Here we are, another year as 20-somethings embarking on the holidays. We’re no longer relying on Santa or the Elf on the Shelf to fill our stockings with surprises. We decide who’s on the naughty or nice list, we decide whether we spend our time on the beach or in the snow or around a cozy fire with family and friends. Even though we may have endless tasks and responsibilities as young adults, we won’t allow our adulting to limit our festivities this season.
Experiencing a hectic and sometimes stressful finals week can leave us depleted. After the last essay, exam, or project is said and done, sleeping for 24 hours straight seems more exciting than a jam-packed itinerary.
So I suggest you rest first, reset and head to your local Christmas tree farm to score the perfect tree and a potential holidate. You never know if the lumberjack loading your tree will resemble a Hemsworth brother; ‘tis the season indeed.
Dare I say, the holidays can be more enjoyable when you’re older. It’s the freedom of participating in the holidays the way you see fit for yourself.
This isn’t a PSA to be a Scrooge or the Grinch, rather a reminder to participate in the joys of the holiday season. Or you can always pull a Kevin McAllister.
Attend the functions you want to attend, participate in the traditions you fancy or start new ones, interact with the family and friends who make you feel the opposite of frenzied, and spread acts of kindness. Nevertheless, do it to your liking. Don’t put yourself in any spaces that are harmful to your nervous system.
Whatever the plans may be, you shouldn’t be dreading them. It’s important to take care of yourself mentally, physically and emotionally during this season. It may be “the most wonderful time of the year” but it can also be the most overwhelming.
I recommend you don’t skip your regularly scheduled workouts, and please don’t compromise your sleep schedule either. Your immune system will thank you, trust me. This is most definitely not the time to forget about balance when we need to be emotionally stable just in case we have to deal with possibly awkward run-ins with exes of any kind back in our hometowns.
Just thinking about all of the people you need to get the “perfect” gift for can be a headache. While it is the season of giving, try not to give yourself an aneurysm or stroke — what’s the fun in that? Can’t find the “perfect” gift? Thank goodness Neiman Marcus introduced the first plastic rectangle known to us as the gift card.
Now, many debate if they’re the true originator, but until someone who is chronically online cracks the code, thank you, Neiman Marcus, for over a century of service. Anyone who insists that a gift card is far from a personal gift is just being annoying. A gift card can be given alone or paired with another form of gift such as a festive cookie tower, flowers, jewelry — the list goes on and on.
Who wouldn’t love that? And think about it: when you’re participating in a white elephant swap, would you rather snag a gift you would immediately want to regift or a gift card to 7 Brew? My fellow opinion columnist Cade might just go for the tragic gift instead of the 7 Brew, but I’m choosing the 7 Brew gift card every time. Just kidding, Cade, we all know how much you love the 7 Brew experience.
As you see family from near and far in Whoville and beyond, attend office parties and potlucks with a lot of interesting personalities, the three words to keep in mind are: protect your peace.
Delightful conversation is all I want to engage in. The moment I sense a sliver of negativity, I will gladly make an Irish exit, and I suggest you do the same. If that one person has had a little too much spiked eggnog supplying them with enough liquid courage to stir the pot or cross the line, we’re so yesterday.
This year has been a mix of highs and lows. The last thing we need is more stress during the time of year when quite frankly, the only thing we should struggle with is deciphering what the best Christmas movie of all time is, whether or not Die Hard can be considered a Christmas movie or which beloved characters in “Stranger Things” will survive Vecna.
Well, friends, the time has come, as the great Tracy, otherwise known as my mother, would say, keep your immune systems and your boundaries strong.
Keep those Christmas carols playing on repeat, keep the hot cocoa flowing and may the odds ever be in your favor, my friends.
Ava Francis is a 22-year-old journalism major from New Orleans.
